In the U.S. Pat. No. 6,508,828, which is assigned to the present assignee, a sealing device is disclosed for sealing a puncture hole in a vessel wall. The sealing device comprises an inner sealing member, an outer member, and a retaining member. The inner sealing member is adapted to be positioned at the inner wall of a vessel, while the outer member is adapted to be positioned at the outer wall of the vessel. In use, the inner and outer members sandwich the vessel wall, and are held together by the retaining member to thereby seal the puncture hole in the vessel wall.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,596,012, which also is assigned to the present assignee, it is described how the sealing action of an inner sealing member can be improved by providing the inner sealing member with a rim portion that has a lower structural rigidity than a central portion of the inner sealing member. The entire contents of the '828 and '012 patents are incorporated herein, including the description of the various techniques, procedures, and devices therein.
Other examples of sealing devices that comprise an inner member and an outer member, which are held together by an elongated retaining member, such as a suture or filament, can be found in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,593,422 and 5,620,461.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,342,393, the retaining member is in the form of a stem that extends from the inner member.